Eli Yudin
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Whether you think belief in ghosts comes from superstition, religion, or a deep internal need for humans to tell themselves there is something after death beyond their body cooling on a metal table, one thing’s for sure: people can’t get enough of spooky stories about them! Some take it even further, wanting to visit famously haunted places for a chance to feel a cold breeze and immediately fill their britches with tinkle. If you’re looking to have your water glass moved a couple inches when you’re not looking, here’s 15 places that should give you a good chance.
The island of Poveglia in Italy is close to Italy’s much more famous island and tourist attraction, Venice. It’s pretty easy to see why Venice is in more travel books, when you know that Poveglia was used, over time, as both a quarantine zone for people with the plague and as an insane asylum. It’s like they were trying to make a haunted island.
The Ancient Ram Inn in England has been around since the 12th century, which seems like long enough to naturally develop a good spread of ghosts. Giving it another boost is that it is built on top of one of the most famous foundations when it comes to haunted architecture: an ancient burial ground.
The Queen Mary is now a retired ship, docked in the terrifying town of… Long Beach, California. Over 50 people died on the boat when she was still seafaring, and they’re all believed to be still wandering around and spookily peeking through portholes.
The Lizzie Borden House, in Massachusetts, is, and you’re not going to believe this: where Lizzie Borden lived. Of course, both the house and its titular occupant are most famous for a very small portion of Lizzie Borden’s time there. Namely, the part where she killed her father and stepmother with an axe.
Horror movie fans, which, if you’re reading articles about haunted places, may very well be you, will know The Stanley from the King/Kubrick masterwork The Shining. Much less famous: wherever the hell they were in that terrible Dr. Sleep movie.
Yeah, when a building is famous for its population of squawking ravens? Pretty safe bet that place is haunted as #&$%. Combine that with the fact that it’s most famous as a prison and the site of multiple executions and the place is basically a ghost factory.
This house, in California, was built by the widow of William Winchester of gunsmithing fame. His wife apparently had it constructed to be purposely maze-like in order to evade the ghosts who had been killed by her late husband’s guns? Which I guess were going to try to kill her? For revenge? I know this is a haunted house article specifically about ghosts, but that lady sounds insane.
The coolest thing about the Akershus Fortress in Norway, outside of its name sounding almost exactly like someone sneezing, has to be its famous GHOST DOG. His name is apparently Malcanisen, and I would love to pet him and ruffle his cold gooey ectoplasm.
Yeah, man. They’re catacombs. I feel like I don’t need to beat anybody over the head with this one. Catacombs are haunted. They’re filled with goddamn bones.
Look. As someone who loves a good creepy-crawly tale, I could see myself staying in one of the houses of this list, especially because they are ALL bed and breakfasts now. But a haunted forest? Absolutely not. There hasn’t been enough money minted across the globe to get me to walk through a haunted forest. It’s in Romania, a country I will continue to not visit.
Once you’re done walking through that awful haunted forest, you can then jaunt right over to another Romanian haunted landmark, Corvin Castle. This was where a particularly dour fellow known as Vlad the Impaler was imprisoned. Knowing that Vlad the Impaler is also famous for being the inspiration for Dracula… yeah, this is basically Dracula’s castle.
This home in Australia is haunted not by victims of a murder or foul play, but by basically a bunch of tragically clumsy people. A maid that fell to her death, a child that got dropped down the stairs… these ghosts probably get their chains caught on every doorknob in the house.
Known as the only plantation in American history where some really messed up shit happened, this house in Louisiana is allegedly the home of beaucoup ghosts. One of them is reportedly a child that’s seen bouncing on the beds, which can absolutely fuck right off.
The Hell Fire Club in Ireland, is, as its name might suggest, cool as shit. It’s an old hunting lodge built for a Parliamentary speaker that’s rumored to have been the site of devil worship, sacrifices, and probably having an absolute blast with the lads.
Kellie’s Castle, located in, as you could guess from its name, Malaysia, was never actually completed. It was a mansion that was being built by a man named William Kellie-Smith as a gift for his wife, but he tragically died of pneumonia during the construction. His wife had no interest in finishing or living in a house that might as well had “Hey, remember your dead husband?” painted on the side, so it’s been left abandoned. This all was certainly enough to curse the place with some serious grief juju.
